So. Control.
I don’t know that I’d call it GOTY, but it’s without a doubt an incredible accomplishment. It’s stunning and rewarding in so many ways. As one of the youtube reviewers I watched mentioned in his review, “this is a game for people that love making games.” I couldn’t agree more.
Going back now and doing my homework (I went in blind), it’s no big surprise that Remedy put this together. Back in the beginning of time (circa 2001), I played the first Max Payne, and I remember being blown away by its cinema-style flair. Control is similar in that it’s just oozing with style—Kubrician in its visual design; the lore and world-building are quirky and weird and very David Lynch-like. As a kid from the ’90s, it’s impossible not to make comparisons to “The X-Files,” and particularly Danielewski’s House of Leaves.
Remedy does such an excellent job with style and mood in this. From the sound design, the music, the brutalist architecture, the lighting, and the use of color—it’s fucking masterful. The “Oldest House” has an incredible personality, and the language of The Board was one of those subtle so-fucking-smart treats by the writers. There are a ton of set-piece “whoa” moments that are just so enjoyable to watch. I felt like I just couldn’t drink enough of it in. These designers are absolutely part of my age-group and gave so much homage and respect to my own cultural vernacular. From the get, it felt special for me… and I’ll be curious if that transcends to other age groups. It’s also left me wanting to go back and play Alan Wake’s American Nightmare next as I understand they’re all a part of a shared cinematic universe.
From a technical perspective, the destructible environments in Control are unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The first battle where, at its completion, I had to take a minute and sit back and look at the mayhem and destruction and thoroughly thought, “Fuck.” It’s minorly disappointing that they’re not stateful, but that also makes some sense in this world. Ish.
As you progress through the game, and your character gains abilities, some of them made my jaw drop. At one point, I actually yelled out at the screen: “I AM A GOLDEN GOD,” as it was just so much fun and right in my frequency.
There’s a later event in the game, “The Ashtray Maze”, that is possibly the single best moment of any video game I’ve ever played. I had to stop afterward and catch my breath and wipe my palms. While cliche in a hundred ways—the song “Take Control” playing is wonderfully terrible early 90’s style metal—but it’s also looped and synchronized to your actions, and it just feels perfect. It’s everything right about John Wick but you’re in control (see what I did there?), and it was a moment that I’ll never forget. Absolute pure joy.
I keep thinking how much this experience would completely blow the mind of a 17-year old Barclay. And that’s what makes it the most special. It’s dialing into a time that is nostalgic for me and absolutely nailing the landing.
All that said, I wish I could say more for the actual game-play. It’s… fine… It’s not horrible (going back to The Witcher 3 and its awful battle mechanics that you had to tolerate), but there are only maybe a dozen enemies and one particular one that’s just cheap. By the end, it felt very “grind-y”.
And while Jesse (the protagonist) is amazingly motion captured, and her model is gorgeous, most of the other characters you interact with are shockingly terrible in contrast. It’s weird just how much this stands out in play through, and I’m curious about the decisions behind that in the production meetings.
I also know now that this is one of the early “AAA” games to go long on real-time ray tracing. Of course, for the Xbox One version, you don’t get any of that, but it’s forthcoming for the Series-X version that will auto-update in a few months… at which time I will play through it again.